


Fishing, Books and Cats

by artikgato



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Boys Kissing, M/M, Rumors, brief discussion of sex, cavity inducing fluff, offscreen teddie, yosuke is oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-04 00:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5312633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artikgato/pseuds/artikgato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was all smiles as she approached, and it almost made him entirely forget that his track history with girls approaching his locker either ended in disappointment or, occasionally, being bullied into buying Chie steak. Almost, but Yosuke knew better. He would have had to have been completely blind to not notice how smitten Rise was with Souji, after all, and knowing that there was only one thing she could possibly be here for. </p>
<p>"Fishing, books and cats," Yosuke said, as she stopped in front of him. She blinked, smile turning into a confused look.</p>
<p>"...huh?" she asked. Yosuke folded his arms.</p>
<p>"Souji likes fishing, books and cats."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fishing, Books and Cats

**Author's Note:**

> I'd say something like 'I wrote this fic to prove that I can write fluff and write from Yosuke's perspective', but really I just wanted to write these two dorks being adorable and stupid together.

The first time it happened was a few weeks into the school year. Just as he finished shoving his indoor shoes into his locker and closing it, he heard an unfamiliar female voice from somewhere to his left ask, "Hanamura-sempai?"

She was a first-year, to be sure, and she had long black hair falling down her back in waves, nice long legs, a gorgeous smile, and a faint dusting of blush on her cheeks, and Yosuke's heart was in his throat immediately, because there was really only one thing she could possibly be doing here, approaching him at his locker after school.

"Y-yes?" he managed to ask, and hated himself immediately for how he stammered and blushed. She giggled a little behind her hand, and Yosuke was more than a little smitten and didn't even know her _name_ yet, and he couldn't seem to keep his heart from pounding.

"I was just wondering, um," and she looked away, bashfully, and it was _absolutely_ the most adorable thing Yosuke had ever seen in his life. The word "yes" was on the tip of his tongue in response to the question he was sure she's going to ask, but he held back and let her finish.

"What kind of things does Souji-sempai like?" she asked.

Ah.

It was so completely not what he thought she was about to ask that it actually stunned him to silence for a second as he stared at her, unable to comprehend the reality of what was happening as opposed to the fantasy of what he _thought_ was happening.

"Sempai?" she tried again, and he realized that he needed to get himself together, coughing a little and struggling not to let his disappointment show through on his face...well, any more than it already had.

"I don't know," he finally answered.

"But you're his best friend, right? You must know!" she insisted, and before he could tell himself not to, Yosuke got mad.

"I've only known him for like three weeks!" he snapped, and immediately regretted it, because it wasn't like this was _her_ fault or anything, and she looked absolutely mortified. "No, wait, ah, sorry, I just..." She had taken a step back, and started to take another, but stopped as Yosuke floundered. What _did_ Souji like? He was a pretty weird guy. He liked...well, perhaps _liked_ wasn't really it, but Yosuke got the sense that he enjoyed himself fighting Shadows in the TV, at least, but that wasn't something he could just blurt out...

"Uh...books, I think. He likes to read," Yosuke finally replied, with a shrug. "Aside from that, I don't know. Maybe you should ask him yourself?"

"Oh...uh, sure...thanks, sempai!" the girl replied, a little too quickly, and was gone in a heartbeat. Yosuke sighed, glacing around to find that, thankfully, nobody else around had been paying attention. He slung his bag over his shoulder and headed for the exit, trying to swallow his disappointment and frustration. Of course it was about Souji. _Of course._

\-------------------

It _kept happening_. By the fifth time, Yosuke had stopped getting hopeful altogether, and come to realize that any girl aside from Chie that approached him at his shoe locker was there for one thing and one thing only - to ask him about Souji. Souji was, apparently, one of the most popular guys at the school. At the rate things were going, Yosuke was sure that every single girl at school, upperclassmen, first-years and all, was going to approach him at his shoe locker at some point or another over the year. It had been frustrating at first, but now, three months into the school year, it was just getting old.

"Hanamura-kun, would it be okay if I asked you something?" this one asked. He could tell, because she had use "kun" and he didn't recognize her, that she was an upperclassman. She had brown hair in a bun and big, gorgeous eyes framed by glasses, and Yosuke sighed, mentally, and didn't let himself notice anything else about her.

"Go ahead," he prompted, tone neutral. It wouldn't do any good to sound angry or bitter, after all. And he couldn't really blame them - Souji was one of the smartest students in the whole school, he was in basketball and band, and he was cool, and charming, and really handsome to boot...

Wait, _handsome_? When had he started thinking-

"Do you know what kind of girl Seta-san likes?" the girl asked, suddenly and Yosuke blinked. That was a new one - up until now, it had been a question of interests or the kinds of things Souji liked to buy. That, and he couldn't help but notice that she used "san" for Souji and "kun" for him, adding insult to injury. They were the same age, damn it!

"I don't know," he replied, and turn on his heel to walk away, ignoring her protest of "wait, please tell me!"

Honestly.

He still hadn't told Souji about the multitude of girls approaching him after school, and he was honestly shocked that Souji hadn't _noticed_ yet, because it wasn't like these girls were being _subtle_ or anything. It was really starting to piss him off...maybe he _would_ tell him. He frowned as the school gates came into view and there was Souji, looking up from his phone with a small grin and a wave at him. No, telling him wouldn't do anybody any good. What he really needed to do was find the guy a girlfriend. A smile formed on his face at the thought. Yeah, if he had a girlfriend, all these girls would stop approaching Yosuke after school to ask about him! And maybe, just maybe, with the most popular guy in school accounted for, Yosuke could actually find someone interested in _him_.

"Yo, Partner!" he called, jogging to meet Souji at the gate. They fell into step with eachother as they walked home, talking about nothing in particular. Souji still didn't talk much, certainly not as much as Yosuke did, but he _had_ started answering Yosuke's questions with actual sentences now.

The question that upperclassman had posed - what kind of girl does Souji like - was really starting to bug him. It was a question he needed an answer to anyway, because how was he going to know who to set Souji up with if he didn't know? He'd tried asking before, whether Souji preferred Chie or Yukiko, and Souji had just replied with "neither". That had been a flawed question anyway, now that Yosuke thought about it. All that answer really meant was that Souji didn't like tomboys or girly girls, or possibly just that Souji couldn't see either of the girls as girlfriend material after seeing their Shadows...Yosuke certainly couldn't, as shallow as that made him feel sometimes.

"Is something wrong?" Souji suddenly asked, and Yosuke was shocked out of his musings, grinning sheepishly over at Souji.

"Oh, uh, sorry, just thinking," he replied, and Souji smirked at him.

"How awful for you," he replied. Yosuke frowned.

"Ha ha, smartass," he grumbled, reaching out and swatting Souji on the shoulder. The other boy just laughed.

"But seriously, what were you thinking so hard about?" he asked.

"What kinds of girls do you like, Partner?" Yosuke asked. Souji blinked over at him, eyebrows furrowed.

"Huh?" he replied, and Yosuke sighed. He almost couldn't believe how dense Souji was sometimes.

"Well, you don't like Chie or Yukiko, so that rules out tomboys and girly-girls, right?" Yosuke plowed on forward with the conversation, heedless of how hesitant Souji suddenly looked.

"Not necessarily, I just...where is this coming from, all of a sudden?" Souji asked.

"I'm just curious, is all. So _do_ you like tomboys, then? Or the fancy elegant types, like Yukiko?" Yosuke continued.

"Well, I mean, I don't really...I haven't really..." Souji was floundering, blushing a little, and Yosuke was stunned for a second, because he never thought he'd see Souji  _embarrassed_ , and he was actually kind of cute like this and whoa whoa _whoa_ Yosuke hold on a second there _what are you thinking_ -

"So what _is_ your type, then?" Yosuke suddenly asked, cutting off Souji's nonsensical babble and trying really hard not to think about the direction his thoughts had just taken.

"I..." Souji started, and he wasn't looking at Yosuke for some reason, "I don't really know..."

"...all right," Yosuke replied, after a minute of staring at him, thoughtfully, trying to figure out what he was thinking. "Let's start with hair color, then. Unless you don't care about hair color?"

"...brunette," Souji replied, after a minute. Yosuke grinned. Okay, finally, Souji was giving him something to work with!

"Okay, so brunette. Check. What about...body type? Short, tall, normal height? Skinny or with some curves?" Yosuke asked, making exaggerated curving motions down his own body at the word "curves".

"Um...tall, and skinny. Not many curves," Souji replied, still very much not looking at Yosuke. Weird. Yosuke frowned. He personally liked shorter girls, and he defintely preferred curves, but he couldn't fault Souji for wanting a skinny girl, he guessed. Some of the more athletic girls at Yasogami were on the taller side, too, and he had to admit that they looked good when they were running laps at the practice fields, so...

"Okay, a tall skinny brunette. Anything else?" Yosuke asked. Souji made a thoughtful noise, and was silent for a few seconds.

"Someone...with a good sense of rhythm," he replied, finally looking over at Yosuke. He still looked flustered, and unless Yosuke was completely misinterpreting him, he almost looked hopeful. Huh. Maybe he knew what Yosuke was up to, and was looking forward to whoever Yosuke was going to be setting him up with? That had to be it. Well, Yosuke wasn't going to let him down!

"Got it, Partner!" Yosuke replied, grinning over at Souji. "Tall, athletic brunette with a sense of rhythm..."

"Someone I'm already friends with," Souji added, and Yosuke looked over at him, startled. Well, that threw a wrench into his plans. He'd already said he didn't like Chie, and besides, she was the very _definition_ of someone with no sense of rhythm. Who else was Souji friends with at Yasogami? There was the girl in band, and Ai Ebihara, but aside from them... Yosuke frowned.

"Well, that just made things difficult..." he muttered, and Souji looked a little crestfallen at that. Well, Yosuke would just have to do his best. Yeah!

\------------------------

"Yosuke-sempai!" someone called. A familiar voice this time, a voice he was actually a little more familiar with than he necessarily should be. A voice he was used to hearing from his headphones, actually, and accompanied by upbeat j-pop tunes.

"Ah, R-Rise-chan!" Yosuke flustered, shutting his locker a little harder than necessary. Oh god, Rise Kujikawa was approaching him at his locker after school. _Rise Kujikawa was approaching him at his locker after school._ How many times had he imagined a scenario like this, before he met her in person? _Since_ meeting her in person?

She was all smiles as she approached, and it almost made him entirely forget that his track history with girls approaching his locker either ended in disappointment or, occasionally, being bullied into buying Chie steak. Almost, but Yosuke knew better. He would have had to have been completely blind to not notice how smitten Rise was with Souji, after all, and knowing that there was only one thing she could possibly be here for. They didn't hang out without the rest of the Investigation Team, and even though he had her phone number he had never gotten up the nerve to call or text her...

"Fishing, books and cats," Yosuke said, as she stopped in front of him. She blinked, smile turning into a confused look.

"...huh?" she asked. Yosuke folded his arms.

"Souji likes fishing, books and cats. And fighting Shadows, but you knew that one," he replied. She went from confused to shocked to guilty in about five seconds.

"How did you know...I mean...what?" she stammered. He unfolded his arms with a sigh.

"You are by far not the first girl to ask me about what Souji likes, Miss Kujikawa," he explained. She looked even _more_ guilty.

"...oh," she managed to squeak, gaze sliding away to her shoes. "Sorry..." Yosuke leaned back against the closed lockers, swallowing around the lump in his throat. He hadn't meant to upset her like this and...besides. She was Risette. Risette! His partner deserved the best, after all, and she was certainly the best that Yasogami had to offer right now. Cute and charming, and, heck, she fit almost all of his qualifications to boot! The good sense of rhythm, needing to already be his friend...and she was an idol, who wouldn't want to date an _idol_?!

"I also happen to know what kind of girls Souji likes," Yosuke said, and that made her look up, guilty and hopeful and sheepish.

"Yeah?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Skinny brunettes with a good sense of rhythm that he's friends with," he replied, finally smiling. "Certainly sounds a lot like a certain someone, doesn't it?"

Rise stared at him for a second, looking very confused and very suspicious. She stared, in fact, for a bit longer than Yosuke found it necessary, before suddenly nodding.

"It certainly does, Yosuke-sempai!" she replied, her usual cheer back on her face. He grinned back.

"Honestly, I don't think you need to worry about his interests or what he likes, just go for it," he replied.

"Sure! Thanks, sempai!" she replied, waving as she headed off down the hallway. Yosuke waited until she was out of sight to let his grin drop and let a sigh escape. Souji was one lucky guy...but at least now, maybe, classmates would stop asking him about Souji after school.

\----------------------

There was a text on his phone from Rise.

There was a _text_. On his _phone_. From _Rise Kujikawa._ Yes, they had exchanged numbers, so it's not like this was entirely out of the realm of possibility or anything, but... Even as recently as two months ago, if someone had told him that there would one day be a text on his phone from Rise Kujikawa, he would have laughed right in their face. The sight of it filled him with dread, though, because if Rise was texting him, there was a very distinct possibility that it was about Souji.

>I'm going on a date with Sempai tomorrow! OMG thank you thank you thank you, I owe you sooo much!

Honestly, he had been expecting that. After telling her that she was basically exactly Souji's type, he _knew_ that she was going to ask him about it, and Souji would have had to have been a _colossal idiot_ to turn her down, so this really wasn't that big of a shock. Or it shouldn't have been. The facts themselves weren't what was making Yosuke's eyes go wide with shock, though. It was how the sight of the message actually made him feel.

He was jealous...but not jealous of Souji. He was jealous of _Rise_. _Why_ was he jealous of Rise?

He should reply. He had to reply, but...what to say? He didn't even know what he wanted to say, how to articulate what he was feeling. He should have been jealous of Souji. Souji was the one getting to go on a date with an idol! His brain needed to get with the program! He didn't...he couldn't...have feelings for Souji, right? Souji was a _guy_ , his _best friend_ , and Yosuke did not swing that way! He hit the reply button, almost angrily, and started to type a response, needing to do something to keep himself from thinking about this.

>Awsum, happy 4 u

Then, just so he didn't have to think about it, he jammed the phone haphazardly into his pocket and marched over to the door.

"Teddie! Let's go to the park or something!" he shouted, leaning out the door. As predicted, the very excited bear almost tripped over himself running up the stairs to ask Yosuke if he really meant it. He took a nice, long breath and let himself get pretend-annoyed at Teddie. He could handle this. He was _going_ to handle this.

\----------------------

Yosuke found himself wishing that Sofue-sensei's lecture was actually interesting, because for the first time ever he really, _really_ needed to focus on it. Anything to take his mind off of the way his chest felt constricted and his stomach churned every time his thoughts strayed. It was impossible, though, considering the subject of his thoughts was sitting right in front of him, directly in his line of vision no matter what he did, and completely oblivious to Yosuke's suffering, to boot. He'd managed to make it through the morning with some top rate acting that would have put the entire drama class to shame, greeting Souji with his usual grin and a casual quip of "big date with Rise tonight, huh Partner?". Souji had stared at him in shock, letting out a nervous chuckle when Yosuke revealed that she'd told him about it. He'd wished him good luck and they had settled in to their seats, but now he just couldn't stop frowning at the boy in front of him. He knew he could just say he was jealous of Souji if anyone asked, but that didn't make it any easier to stomach. He had mulled on it until he was so tired of thinking that he'd pulled on his headphones in order to get to sleep, and the uneventful bike ride to school this morning had been more of the same.

He had feelings for Souji.

Coming to terms with that had terrified him a lot, but he had finally just admitted it to himself. Nothing had gotten any easier after that though. Souji had told that he liked girls that were almost exactly Rise to a tee, minus the factor of height. They were honestly _perfect_ for each-other, and he was probably more torn up with guilt about not wanting them to be happy than he was about the fact that he was potentially...probably...maybe...

...gay. Or at least, bisexual. During the course of his freaking out about this he'd spent some time on the internet, and had been incredibly relieved to discover that it was not only possible but fairly common to be attracted to both genders, or even to be mostly attracted to one and a little bit to the other. It didn't make things any better, though. Even if Souji were a girl it wouldn't have been okay. Souji was his _best friend_ , the only friend, in fact, that he'd really made on his own since coming to Inaba. He couldn't jeopardize that, Souji meant way, _way_ too much to him! And besides, he really wasn't like that. He had tried to picture himself feeling this way towards every other guy he could think of, and had been revolted. Souji was special. He knew that. It wasn't just the good looks or the charm, it was all the silly little things that Souji did, the fact that he felt like he could talk to Souji about anything (well, _almost_ anything, as he was discovering), the way Souji had somehow become the most important person to him over the span of just a few short months...

He had feelings for Souji, and he absolutely _could not_ tell him. It wouldn't be fair, and he was sure that Souji would reject him, and everything would be a mess. So Yosuke was just going to have to keep this to himself and wait for the feelings to go away. Except...after what happened to Saki, Yosuke had promised himself that the next time he fell for someone he was going to _tell them_ , no matter what, before it was too late, and now... now...

"Hanamura!" Sofue snapped, and Yosuke snapped to attention, barely managing not to yelp in surprise.

"Y-yes?" he managed to reply. She was glaring at him, the whole class was staring at him.

"Do you have an answer, or should I just assume that you weren't paying attention?" she asked.

"West Africa," Souji whispered, hand over his mouth to mask the action. Yosuke gulped.

"West...Africa?" he finally reponded. Sofue nodded.

"Very good," she replied, and continued on with her lecture. Yosuke could safely say that he hadn't heard a word of it. He smiled sheepishly at Souji, who nodded and returned the smile, resuming paying attention to the lecture. He hated himself a little for how that smile made his heart thump a little faster.

\---------------------

On the one hand, Yosuke was glad that he wasn't working at Junes, because work was work, and he was sure he would have been almost useless today with how awful he was feeling. On the other hand, working at Junes would have given Yosuke something to do other than turn these same thoughts over and over and over in his head. So, instead of being at work, he was walking aimlessly along the Samegawa. He had already walked out far enough that he couldn't see any of the buildings of Inaba and back to the main bridge twice and was working on his third lap when he just sighed and decided to flop down on his back in a comfortable-looking patch of sunlit grass. The river was making a nice babbling sound, the sky was almost impossibly blue, fluffy clouds dotted around, and he just laid there, staring up at them, listening to the river, trying as hard as he could to just _not think_. After all, what was there to think about? He'd come to terms with his feelings for Souji and the fact that he could never, ever act on them, and right now Souji and Rise were probably on their date in Okina right now, laughing and having fun and being the _perfect couple_ , and that was honestly what both of them deserved, and...

Yosuke didn't even realize he'd dozed off until someone called his name. He blinked open his eyes blearily and looked up to see Souji sitting next to him, frowning down at him.

"S-s-souji!" he gasped, shooting up into a sitting position. "What are you doing here?" He looked up at the sky, finding that it was all pink and orange hues. He hadn't been asleep for _that_ long, then, certainly not long enough for someone to go to Okina, go on a date, and then come back. "What happened with Rise?"

"It...didn't work out," Souji replied, shifting his gaze away from Yosuke to look out over the water.

"Wh...what do you mean?" Yosuke asked, stunned.

"It just didn't," Souji replied, with a shrug.

"Seriously?" Yosuke asked. Souji just nodded, and Yosuke hated how hopeful he felt at the news. Souji and Rise hadn't worked out, so that meant that Souji was... but no, no he couldn't, not right after a failed date, not _ever_ , because he was going to ruin their friendship...but he _needed_ to tell him, they fought dangerous Shadows all the time and one or both of them could end up dead eventually if they weren't careful, and what if that happened and he never got to tell Souji about his feelings? Souji was a good guy, he'd understand even if he didn't return Yosuke's feelings, and he wouldn't, he _couldn't_ , because that wasn't the kind of guy Souji was, but he wouldn't stop being Yosuke's friend, right? Right? And Yosuke thought he was going to explode if he didn't say _something_ , he already felt exhausted from carrying his feelings around with him and he'd only had them for _one day_...

"Souji!" he finally gasped out, just as Souji turned to him and said his name. They both stopped and stared for a second, and Yosuke felt like he was white as a sheet.

"You first," Souji replied, and Yosuke tamped down his respose of "no you", because this was important, _so_ important, and if he didn't tell him now he may never be able to again.

"I...I need to tell you something, Partner, but I want you to promise me that no matter what I say, you won't hate me or stop being my friend, okay?" Yosuke managed to say.

"Y-yeah, I promise," Souji replied, nodding, and Yosuke paused for a second, taking deep breaths, trying to stop his hands from shaking, eyes closed. Finally he forced himself to open his eyes and look directly at Souji.

"I..." he croaked out, but he faltered. Too much was at stake here, he couldn't do it, he was going to ruin everything, "...I..." he had to tell him, he _had_ to, he couldn't even think of anything to say instead of what he was trying to, to take the easy way and back out at the last second, he'd really talked himself into a corner here. One more deep breath, and he swallowed around the persistent lump in his throat, balled his hands up in the grass of the Samegawa that he was sitting in, and just _did it_. "I like you!"

Souji just kind of...sat there for a minute, stunned, and Yosuke couldn't take the silence and just opened his mouth to fill it, saying whatever came to mind without even thinking about it first. "Please don't hate me, Souji, _please_ , you're my best friend and I don't think I can stand it if you hate me, I'm sorry, you can just ignore what I said and it'll go away, it's stupid, I'm not even _gay_ and I know you aren't and I don't know what I'm talking about but I was so jealous of Rise and I just couldn't stay quiet, I'm so sorry-"

Yosuke hadn't really known what to expect - anger, maybe? Rejection, probably. Possibly disgust? Or maybe, just maybe, Souji felt the same? What he had never expect in a million years was for Souji to sieze him by the shoulders, turn him bodily toward him and kiss him.

Yosuke's brain froze. Souji was _kissing him_. He wasn't mad or disgusted, he hadn't left, he hadn't rejected Yosuke at all, and he was really warm, and his mouth was surprisingly soft, and it felt nice. So nice, in fact, that when he started to pull away Yosuke followed him blindly, acting on pure instinct. He realized with a shock that he hadn't actually moved at all once Souji had started kissing him, and that made him overcompensate on his willingness to reciprocate - to let Souji know that this was _very okay_ \- and he ended up grabbing Souji by the back of the head, holding him in place, and kissing him back as hard as he could. It was sloppy and unrefined, but it wasn't like Yosuke'd had a whole ton of experience or anything, and Souji didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was making little pleased sounds into the kiss now, tilting his head a bit so that their lips fit together better. After what felt like far too short of a time he felt himself getting lightheaded in the bad way and pulled back, moving his hand from Souji's hair to rest on his back as they both gasped for breath.

"I like you too, Yosuke," Souji eventually panted, and even though it was almost unnecessary at this point, the words still made butterflies flutter in Yosuke's stomach. He chuckled.

"I figured as much," he replied, and Souji smiled, not one of his little smiles either but a big, goofy, completely natural grin, and Yosuke found himself absolutely enamoured by it, his stomach doing flips. He frowned.

"But...Partner," he started, surprising himself when he hesitated. "Don't you like girls?"

"When did I ever say that?" Souji asked, and Yosuke blinked. So dense.

"When you told me about what type of girl you like, duh!" he replied, and Souji laughed.

"I never once said anything about a girl, Yosuke," Souji clarified. He reached a hand over, gently placing it on top of a bewildered Yosuke's head. "Tall and skinny," he started, and then moved his hand, fingers tangling in the fringe on the side of Yosuke's face. "Brunette..." His hand moved again, this time moving down to to one of the headphones that was resting on Yosuke's shoulder. "With a good sense of rhythm. And a friend. Who do you think I was talking about, when I told you that?"

Yosuke felt his entire face go red, embarrassed both by his own _sheer stupidity_ and at the intimate way Souji was touching him.

"I'm an idiot," he finally sighed, and Souji moved his hand back up, to cup his cheek.

"I wouldn' t have it any other way," he replied, voice quiet, and leaned forward again to kiss him. Yosuke reciprocated almost immediately, reaching up to pull Souji closer to him as he did. This time, he was ready with another question when they separated.

"So if you knew this whole time, why did you go out with Rise?" he asked, and Souji sighed.

"I wanted to make sure," Souji explained, and, seeing that Yosuke didn't understand whatever he was trying to say, started to elaborate. "I honestly never expected you to feel the same way, so I wanted to try to be attracted to women. Rise would be exactly my type if I was, so I thought that if there was any girl out there I could be attracted to it would be her, but..."

"...oh," Yosuke replied, at a loss for words.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly going around swooning over guys, either. I don't think you realize this, Yosuke, but you are the first person I've ever felt like this about," Souji continued. Yosuke couldn't supress the sheer joy he felt at that, a big, stupid grin breaking out on his face.

"I'm glad," he replied, and he felt like he was going to burst from happiness. "Am I really the first person you've ever had a crush on, though?" Souji gave a quick nod, going a little red, and Yosuke felt himself go weak, practically lunging forward and wrapping him in a hug, pulling him flush against him and squeezing him tight. Souji wrapped his arms around his shoulders, burying his face in the crook of Yosuke's neck with a contented noise, and they stayed like that for a while, the sky slowly changing from orange sunset into gray twilight.

\----------------------

"Hanamura-sempai!" he heard, and instead of the defeated sigh that had been his response for the past few weeks, he felt himself grinning as he finish putting away his shoes and shut his locker, turning to face the underclassman that was now approaching him with a big, but entirely faked, smile. Short, blue hair in pigtails, curvy...and female. She was definitely not Souji's type, not at all. She _was_ cute, though, so Yosuke decided not to be a jerk.

"I was just wondering...you're Seta-sempai's best friend, so you must know what kind of things he likes, right?" she asked. He tried not to, but Yosuke couldn't help the big, almost predatory grin that broke out on his face.

"Me," he simply answered. The girl blinked up at him in utter confusion for a few seconds and then opened her mouth, no doubt to ask him to clarify, but Yosuke beat her to it. "He likes _me_. And just so you know, we aren't _best_ friends any more, we're _boyfriends_."

She was stunned into silence, recovering after a few seconds of just staring at him with her mouth open.

"Y-you're lying!" she finally accused, pointing up at him. "I don't care which way _you_ swing, but Seta-sempai isn't like that!"

"Really," Yosuke asked, tone dripping with sarcasm. "What makes you say that?"

"He...he went on a date with Rise-chan!" she protested. Yosuke just shrugged.

"Yeah, _once_. Who wouldn't?" he asked. The underclassman had her hands balled up into fists at her sides now, clearly mad.

"You're just messing with me, aren't you? Well, this isn't a funny joke, sempai!" she said.

"Think what you want," Yosuke finally said, turning his back on her without a second thought and walking away, leaving her fuming and calling after him.

\-------------------------

There was another text on his phone from Rise. The sense of wonder from the last one was gone, though, and replaced with a cold dread in the pit of Yosuke's stomach. After all, Yosuke was the reason that Rise wasn't dating the guy she had a massive crush on. He left the phone alone for a couple of hours, busying himself with cleaning up his room (which he never did), airing out his futon (even more rare), and even doing his homework _and_ the dishes (his mother looked at him like he'd gone crazy). Finally, he reached the breaking point and just swallowed his fear and opened the text.

>I knew it was you, sempai. A skinny brunette with a good sense of rhythm?

Huh. He'd been expecting anger or bitterness, but this message sounded almost...smug?

>Wuts that sposd 2 mean?

Rise responded almost immediately. He barely had time to set his phone down.

>When you told me what Sempai's type is, I knew it was you. I thought you were joking.

Yosuke frowned. Had it been _that_ obvious? He started typing a response, but midway through another text came in.

>I'm just glad you got your act together and confessed to him. If you had broken his heart I was going to break your knees.

Yikes! Rise Kujikawa, he decided, was a very scary person, and he was infinitely grateful that she was in fact supportive of his relationship with Souji. He did not want to know what she was like as an enemy.

>U rly luv Souji a lot huh?

>Yes, and if you ever make him cry, they will never find your body. <3

What kind of a person signs a death threat with a heart?! Yosuke shuddered.

>I understand

\----------------------

It took a whole two weeks after that for the rumor mill to reach critical mass. Yosuke had just sat down at his desk, greeting Souji, Chie and Yukiko with his usual good mornings, when one of their classmates walked up looking both nervous and curious at the same time, approaching both him Souji.

"Umm...I...heard some rumors, and I just wanted to know...are you two really, uh..." he started, stumbling over his words, clearly uncomfortable.

"Dating?" Souji supplied, and the classmate nodded, quickly. "Yes, we are."

"R-really?" the boy stammered, clearly not expecting that response.

"Yep!" Yosuke confirmed, and he glanced over at Souji, trading small smiles with him. "Got a problem with that?"

"Well, I mean..." he started in response, and Yosuke looked past him, noticing for the first time that they had drawn quite a crowd - it seemed like the entire homeroom class was clustered around their desks now.

"It's just a little hard to believe!" one of the girls that sat in the front row piped up, she and several other of the girls in class all watching with very interested looks on their faces. Yosuke frowned. What, was he going to have to make out with Souji before they got the picture?

Apparently, Souji had the same thought, because he was scooting back in his chair and twisting around in it to sit backwards, reaching up to cup his cheek and, yep, they were kissing. They were kissing at their desks in homeroom in front of the _entire class_ and it was _fantastic_. He only halfway noticed the awed "whoa" that went through his classmates, or the cackled "holy shit they did it" from Chie, or Yukiko's laughter, because Souji's mouth was against his and electricity was crackling up his spine. He reached up and tangled a hand in Souji's hair, pulling him closer and kissing him harder. The door slid open, and they sprang apart like scolded kittens when Kashiwagi called out "all right, what is going on here?" Souji was back at his desk and facing the right direction in what felt like an instant, and he could tell that he was blushing even though he couldn't see his face, because even the tips of his ears were red. Yosuke himself was blushing, of course, and when he caught the eye of one of the front row girls and she was smiling encouragingly at him, he only blushed harder.

"All right, all right, sit down," Kashiwagi barked, and Yosuke wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, self conciously. "Seta, Hanamura! Why are you both so red? Are you sick?"

" _Love_ sick," the guy sitting next to Yosuke muttered, too quiet for Kashiwagi to hear, but loud enough that the back half of the class could hear him, and there were snickers all around. Yosuke kind of wanted a black hole to open up underneath him and swallow him whole, but well, at least they were being _kind_ of supportive about this?

"If you are sick, this is your chance to go to the infirmary, otherwise you'll just have to sit through my lecture," Kashiwagi continued, oblivious. Souji glanced at Yosuke over his shoulder, a mischievous look on his face, and Yosuke nodded back, trying hard to hide his grin.

"Thank you, Sensei," Souji replied, standing up with a faked swoon, as if he was unsteady on his feet. Yosuke snorted and thought that he should have joined drama, but took Souji's hand when it was offered and let him pull him up to stand. Kashiwagi frowned.

"Will you two be able to make it on your own? Hmm...someone should go with you," she continued. Chie's hand shot up instantly, and she was practically standing in her seat already.

"Oh! Me! Me and Yukiko'll do it!" she volunteered, and Yukiko looked a little startled at being volunteered, but smiled anyway.

As soon as they were far enough down the hallway that they were out of earshot of the classroom, all four of them burst into laughter. Yukiko was practically doubled over, Chie had to lean against a wall, and Souji was leaning on him as they all laughed.

"I c-cant believe you two kissed in class," Chie finally said, still fighting to contain her laughter. Yukiko wasn't even trying.

"They wouldn't have believed us otherwise," Souji replied, grinning over at Yosuke. "Right, Partner?" Yosuke felt his heart jump a little, cheeks turning dark red instantly. Souji had figured out very early on that Yosuke _really_ liked it when he called him 'Partner', and now he took advantage of this fact at every available opportunity. Yosuke _probably_ should have been a little irritated by having his weakness exploited like this, but he really, really liked hearing that word on Souji's lips.

"That was kinda risky though, wasn't it? If Kashiwagi-sensei had caught you, you two could have been suspended!" Yukiko replied. Yosuke snorted.

"It would have _totally_ been worth it," he said. Chie rolled her eyes.

"Maybe for you, but Souji-kun is actually a _good_ student, y'know?" she replied. Yosuke frowned.

"Need I remind you that I scored higher than you in the last exam, Miss Satonaka?" he retorted.

"Oh yeah, _one point_ higher," she goaded.

"We should probably actually go to the infirmary," Souji cut in, grabbing Yosuke's hand. Yosuke only blushed a _little_ at that. He turned his attention to the girls. "And you two should head back to class."

"Sure thing, leader," Chie replied, voice dripping with sarcasm, but she was all smiles as she waved them off. "Don't get into _too_ much trouble, okay?"

"Try not to ruin your uniforms!" Yukiko teased, winking at them as she turned to follow Chie, leaving them both bright red again, staring after her in shock.

"What, does she think we're gonna have sex in the infirmary or something?" Yosuke grumbled, turning around with a huff. Souji chuckled.

"Not a bad idea," he replied, and Yosuke glared over at him, mortified.

"Seriously?" Yosuke squeaked, and Souji laughed. "If we got caught we would be _way_ more than suspended, Partner!"

"It's a joke," he assured him, turning to follow him as Yosuke started off toward the infirmary. "...or is it?"

"Not funny!" Yosuke chided, walking faster and tugging Souji along behind him as he did, their hands still linked. Yosuke hadn't even _thought_ about having sex with Souji yet, and all of a sudden they were bringing it up at school of all places! He should have been mortified by the thought, it should have made his skin crawl, but if it was anything like kissing Souji, it was probably really nice, and, oh no, he had to stop thinking about this _right now_. He did not need the mental image of pushing Souji down onto one of the infirmary beds and kissing him senseless, and he _certainly_ didn't need to imagine Souji wearing a nurse uniform and _oh no_ -

"Yosuke," Souji said suddenly, and stopped walking, and he was immensely grateful for the distraction from the direction his mind had been going. He stopped and turned to face him. "Thank you."

"For what?" Yosuke asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"For not freaking out," Souji replied. "For not wanting to hide this." He held up their joined hands for emphasis.

"Yeah, well," Yosuke grumbled. "If we were all secretive about it, that would've made it a lot worse when it finally got out, right?"

"Still, thank you," Souji said, tugging Yosuke closer and giving him a quick peck on the lips. When they parted, he had a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Let's ditch class and go fool around in Okina." Yosuke laughed.

"Souji Seta the honors student wants to skip class with me? I never thought I'd see the day," he remarked. Souji shrugged.

"I'm sure Yukiko would let me borrow her notes. And it's not like I'm going to make a habit of it...so, what do you say?" he asked. Yosuke honestly couldn't say no.

"Let's go, Partner!" he exclaimed, and as one they made a beeline for the stairs and the school gates, and never looked back.


End file.
